Show's Over! We'll probably do this again in two years, but for now it's back to everyday life. This photo is of some of the hard working crew who helped set it all up, and our official banner- it looked nice hanging right in view as the visitors came through the door.



Every show you seem to collect a story or two to add to the archives. I noticed a little old man standing in front of this quilt, hissing like a tea kettle with irritation.

When I went over to talk to him he said hotly "But it's not REAL quilting is it? The machine does it all for you!", as if accusing me of cheating. I told him that I'd done it, and that it wasn't easy at all, but he wouldn't be convinced. "You just put the card in the machine, and the card does it all, YOU don't do the stitching!" I gave him a quick lesson on free-motion quilting and how it differed from the computerised machines, but he made a noise that sounded like "Tchtttt!" indicating disbelief and I could tell I hadn't gotten through. So I showed him the Kansas Dugout on the bed which is completely handstitched and quilted, but he didn't care for that either. You can't please them all!

For the record, this was quilted on a Janome 4000 with a 5" throat space.

There was also a display of wedding dresses at the local Anglican church, and we gave them Mum's dress. It was one of the oldest there, 63 years old in fact. We thought it was a good idea until it came time to iron it and make it look presentable, then we found that 63 year old creases don't want to come out easily! Two hours later we'd done the best we could, but I'll never let it get that scrumpled again.

Mum always hated this dress because it wasn't what she wanted. It was war-time Australia, and rationing was heavy in 1944. She got the last 5 yards of satin available, and it took all her coupons and some of her friends to obtain it. It was a soft cream instead of white, and there was no room for mistakes, so she took it to a dressmaker. Aunty Ethel was very inventive and pieced this together with funny little seams where you don't expect them and used every inch of fabric- it probably helped that Mum was a tiny little person with an 18" waist. The scallops around the neck are cut from the selvedge of the material, she must have just squeaked it in!

Look at the shine on that satin, it must have been beautiful quality, because it's still heavy and glossy.

The different styles of the dresses were fascinating, and some had been worn by both mothers and daughters, what a lovely tradition.

I think we did well for such a little town, there were two markets as well, and the antique shop had good sales- next time we'll make it even better!